Tiny tweaks in DNA folding can have big effects. A study from Umeå University shows that even the most subtle changes in DNA's shape have an important influence on gene activity and energy production.

Proteins long known to be essential for hearing have been hiding a talent: they also act as gatekeepers that shuffle fatty ...

Until now, doctors knew hepatic stellate cells mainly as drivers of liver fibrosis. The actual functions of this cell type have hardly been studied to date. Researchers have now determined that ...

People need to sleep, and sleep deprivation can cause many changes in the brain. But we have a poor understanding of why sleep is so crucial. New research has examined a fruit fly model to assess how ...

The regulatory division of the immune system is vital for its overall function. Immune T cells originate in the bone marrow and then travel to the thymus—a kind of biological police academy. 2 Here, ...

A new study by physicists and neuroscientists from the University of Chicago, Harvard and Yale describes how connectivity among neurons comes about through general principles of networking and ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The human brain contains about 86 billion neurons. These cells fire electrical signals that help the brain store memories and send information and commands throughout the brain and ...

Red blood cells transport oxygen throughout your body, including to vital organs and tissues. They also help your body get rid of carbon dioxide. Too little or too many red blood cells may be ...

Scientists have long known that people living at high altitudes, where oxygen levels are low, have lower rates of diabetes than people living closer to sea level. But the mechanism of this protection ...